Need some advice please

[golbern]

Hi

I,ve just bought a Intellivision 1 on ebay which seems to be in new ,mint condition with cabels,switch box etc all boxed up.Apparently been stuck in someones loft for years.. .I want to play it on my Samsung LED 46" tv....So i've just bought a A/V Composite Video Mod Kit from a guy from Turkey on ebay ,which should be coming soon in the post...I was thinking of doing the job myself ,but have no soldering experience ,and having second thoughts having read the intructions.

My questions are. .....Do you think a complete novice can do this Mod ?

 

Is this Mod kit worth doing ?..Or would any of you recommend a better way to link my Intellivision to my new T.V ?

 

If you have any advice with any of these questions i would be most grateful..

Edited October 25, 2015 by golbern

[cvga]

Congrats on getting an Intellivision and joining AtariAge! If you are a complete novice, I'd recommend having someone else install the mod for you, especially if your intellivision is in mint condition. Where do you live? If there's not someone local who can do it, I'm sure someone here would be willing to mod it for a small fee.

[chas10e]

http://atariage.com/howto/connect.htmlmight have to setup TV for air reception on channel 3 ...searching for signal might be way to go as well

 

if you get a black screen only you may need to clean the game cartridge http://atariage.com/howto/clean_cartridges.htmluse 91% rubbing alcohol not the lower percentages available

 

you should be pleased with how the game looks with just RF even on a large TV

 

solder / desolder some cadavers already first to see if it's something you'll want to attempt yourself

[+freewheel]

.I was thinking of doing the job myself ,but have no soldering experience ,and having second thoughts having read the intructions.

My questions are. .....Do you think a complete novice can do this Mod ?

 

Is this Mod kit worth doing ?..Or would any of you recommend a better way to link my Intellivision to my new T.V ?

 

If you have any advice with any of these questions i would be most grateful..

 

Caveat: I've never done an AV mod on an Intellivision, although I have done it on many other similar vintage systems.

 

If you have NO soldering experience, I'd suggest practicing a lot first. Although a proper soldering kit would probably cost you more than just paying someone to do it for you. If this is the only thing you'll ever solder.. pay someone else. If you want to learn how to solder - practice on other stuff first, then do this one. The pins and traces on this era of hardware are far enough apart that it's not terribly difficult once you know what you're doing, but you can still permanently bugger it up.

 

If your TV has an RF input, just try that and see how it looks. If it doesn't, then another option is to run it through an old VCR (or anything that has RF input and composite out), which is how I currently have my development system set up. It's clunky but it works.

 

Depending on how many connections the AV mod has, you can always hook it up with alligator clips and such, and check the output to see how it looks (other people can correct me if this is impractical on an Intellivision). If it's a massive improvement, then AV mod! If not... then there may not be a need. Personally I find the RF on most Intellivisions to be excellent, which is why I've never bothered to mod one.

 

Oh, and if you're going to use RF at all, you MUST MUST MUST get rid of that horrid switchbox. Those things are complete crap and even the best-working one is garbage. Try an RCA-Coax adapter. You can get them for like a buck including shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/RCA-Female-to-F-Type-Male-Inch-Coax-Adapter-Connector-Silver-/191647328701?hash=item2c9f1229bd:g:USYAAOSwLVZVuXqc

 

I order them in by the dozen. They're the best things ever invented when it comes to old game consoles. For most, it cleans up the signal at least 50% as much as an AV mod would.

[golbern]

I live in the UK ,so will look around and see if i can find anybody willing to mod it for me, if i go down that route.!.......

 

...I've just joined this forum, and got great feedback within minutes of posting a question ... WOW !.Thank you so much for your advice guys ....... I will wait till my mod kit comes from Turkey before deciding what to do...Might chicken out in the end , and not use the mod kit if i feel i don't need it, or can't find anybody to fit it for me...My intellivision is such new condition just don,t want to mess up!

 

Thanks again, and if anybody can add any other advice to this topic... please do.

[+KylJoy]

You are obviously free to do whatever you desire with your property and I have considered video mods myself as projects (on secondary systems).

 

A small "but" here...

 

The Intellivision system was INTENDED to be displayed via the RF signal and the system and software were developed with the intricacies and technical oddities of how the console generates images, shoves them out the RF signal and then relies on a 1970's television set (color required for the Intellivision!) to display the image through it's own various technical peculiarities including things like scan-lines on picture tubes to create the intended colors and other image attributes. In other words, "I got me an old TV for playin' dem tv games, Eddie!"

 

Don't miss out on the original experience by focusing on crystal clear modern images and gaming experience. Be sure to enjoy it as it was intended at some point. And watch some era-correct TV commercials and Saturday morning cartoons while enjoying some Kool-aid in a Tupperware glass while surrounding yourself with fake wood-grained everything as you do it.

[golbern]

It seems i might have jumped the gun and bought a AV mod kit before i fully researched everything . Most of you seem to think i should go down the RF route ,and don't think the AV mod is necessary .

Just want to get the best possible picture on my new T.V !.......... I think i will take freewheels advice and get a RCA -coax adapter and see how that works out.

 

 

[pimpmaul69]

It seems i might have jumped the gun and bought a AV mod kit before i fully researched everything . Most of you seem to think i should go down the RF route ,and don't think the AV mod is necessary .

Just want to get the best possible picture on my new T.V !.......... I think i will take freewheels advice and get a RCA -coax adapter and see how that works out.

 

 

as long as your rf cable is good quality then most intellivisions provide a really good picture. Far better than most older systems. I have modded several intellivisions but never my own because my tv supports rf and it looks really good.

[golbern]

as long as your rf cable is good quality then most intellivisions provide a really good picture. Far better than most older systems. I have modded several intellivisions but never my own because my tv supports rf and it looks really good.

Hi pimpmaul69

So you are saying that fitting a AV composite kit would not make much of a difference in picture quality than RF ?...Looks like i might have wasted $23 or £15 on buying the mod kit

Thanks for your advice.

[+KylJoy]

My 2 cents...

 

If I were going to do a mod on a vintage system I'd likely go RGB or better. There is debate over the value of the composite/s-video mods but some claim it is considerably "better" than the RF if done correctly, but again, I'm one of the purists that thinks "best" is as designed for the tech of the era it was created in.

 

Some info:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/208508-intellivision-worth-the-composite-or-s-video-mod/

 

RGB info:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242029-intellivision-rgb-mod-by-juice2839/

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/234146-intellivision-rgb-picturesthoughts/

[pimpmaul69]

If the rf tuner in your intellivision is good and you use a good rf cable and adapter it produces a very good picture. Not perfect cause you will have some color bleed either way. But if the tv has a good tuner and everything else is good it will look pretty good. As far as the composite mod the quality is motherboard dependent. There is 3 or 4 versions of boards and some are better than others. But picture quality can also be what a person deems to be good or bad. Some people can be pickier than others. I play in emulation so i get crystal clear picture through hdmi but i can still appreciate the old school stuff. I personally prefer how a good rf can look on a flatscreen tv. Some systems rca composite looks terrible on a lot of flatscreens cause their composite input is garbage. If you do hook up the composite mod and you get bad ghosting i would remove the mod. One of the board versions does this and as long as the mod is hooked up the rf will have the same bad ghosting.

[mthompson]

Don't forget that this is an audio and video mod. I installed the mod from Turkey also. My video signal is slightly better than using the RF-to-coax adapter, but the audio is vastly better using a composite signal. If you go ahead with the mod, you should be able to do an A/B comparison on your TV to judge the results. Be sure to use high quality cables for whichever hookup you go with.

 

My 2 cents.

[+KylJoy]

I play in emulation so i get crystal clear picture through hdmi but i can still appreciate the old school stuff.

 

I use emulation for a lot of playing, too, with original controllers. Can't have a better, more modern picture. And if you like, many emulators now reproduce the, um, errr, "features" of the older TV tube technology for your nostalgic pleasure, scan lines, blur, mis-aligned colors and all.

 

Good point about the audio being modded as well.

[golbern]

Don't forget that this is an audio and video mod. I installed the mod from Turkey also. My video signal is slightly better than using the RF-to-coax adapter, but the audio is vastly better using a composite signal. If you go ahead with the mod, you should be able to do an A/B comparison on your TV to judge the results. Be sure to use high quality cables for whichever hookup you go with.

 

My 2 cents.

mthompson , Can i ask you how hard it is to fit the mod from Turkey ...Do you think a complete novice could fit it ?..Or is the risk to great

[golbern]

Thx to everybody who has posted on my first topic..I.ve learnt alot, and its been a great help!

Love this forum !

[mthompson]

mthompson , Can i ask you how hard it is to fit the mod from Turkey ...Do you think a complete novice could fit it ?..Or is the risk to great

 

The mod is quite compact and fits inside the Intellivision with no trouble. As others have suggested, you should practice your soldering a bit first if this is your first project. I'm no expert, but I connected mine with no problems. I pretty much just followed the seller's instructions, as I recall. I did add a second audio jack by splitting off the first one so I could feed both left and right without needing a Y-splitter at the TV. Good luck!

[+freewheel]

 

So you are saying that fitting a AV composite kit would not make much of a difference in picture quality than RF ?...Looks like i might have wasted $23 or £15 on buying the mod kit

 

 

My 2 cents - it all depends on what you want/need it for, and what you prefer.

 

Personally, I can't stand any pre-PS2 console on an LCD. They make the games look universally horrible, in my opinion. CRTs have a wonderful ability to "soften" (ie: blur) the image, with the scanlines and overall poor picture quality, that helps mask just how low res these graphics used to be. And as already mentioned, in many cases it's how the graphics were designed to be displayed.

 

BUT - some people really like it. It's just a matter of personal preference. Right now I'm using an LCD as my Intellivision development screen and I hate it, but it's fine for what I'm doing, for now. Until I get a smaller CRT to use in my office (which will probably be next spring once garage sales start and free TVs pop up again).

 

If you don't have anything with RF input - a composite mod is a must. And some consoles just have really, really awful RF output. Some models of 2600s are this way. And while the Intellivision generally has great RF output, some have bad RF modulators. I actually have 3 2600s in this situation right now - basically no video out but with a composite mod, they look just fine. I just need to get around to actually soldering things in place, and then I have 3 returned-to-life consoles.

 

So it really depends. I've never actually seen an Intellivision through composite so I'm not sure how much it improves things. It makes a world of difference on almost any 2600, but those had terrible RF output (especially as time went on). Same with Colecovisions. Intellivisions? I find the RF more than acceptable.

[pimpmaul69]

 

My 2 cents - it all depends on what you want/need it for, and what you prefer.

 

Personally, I can't stand any pre-PS2 console on an LCD. They make the games look universally horrible, in my opinion. CRTs have a wonderful ability to "soften" (ie: blur) the image, with the scanlines and overall poor picture quality, that helps mask just how low res these graphics used to be. And as already mentioned, in many cases it's how the graphics were designed to be displayed.

 

BUT - some people really like it. It's just a matter of personal preference. Right now I'm using an LCD as my Intellivision development screen and I hate it, but it's fine for what I'm doing, for now. Until I get a smaller CRT to use in my office (which will probably be next spring once garage sales start and free TVs pop up again).

 

If you don't have anything with RF input - a composite mod is a must. And some consoles just have really, really awful RF output. Some models of 2600s are this way. And while the Intellivision generally has great RF output, some have bad RF modulators. I actually have 3 2600s in this situation right now - basically no video out but with a composite mod, they look just fine. I just need to get around to actually soldering things in place, and then I have 3 returned-to-life consoles.

 

So it really depends. I've never actually seen an Intellivision through composite so I'm not sure how much it improves things. It makes a world of difference on almost any 2600, but those had terrible RF output (especially as time went on). Same with Colecovisions. Intellivisions? I find the RF more than acceptable.

although colecos may have bad rf they have the easiest composite mod that produces an absolutely beautiful picture quality. The thing i hate about the composite on the atari 2600 is you can never get correct colors for all games. Example the 2 different frogger games. Get ones color perfect the other looks like shit. Solution for me, an external pot knob to adjust color per game. Edited October 26, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[golbern]

I've got a Samsung UE46C9000 LED TV........I've just checked the back and it doesn't come with a RF input

So my only options are to use a old VCR and go through that..... or to mod my intellivision with the A/V composite video mod kit ?

Is that correct

[pimpmaul69]

I've got a Samsung UE46C9000 LED TV........I've just checked the back and it doesn't come with a RF input

So my only options are to use a old VCR and go through that..... or to mod my intellivision with the A/V composite video mod kit ?

Is that correct

yup

[+intvsteve]

yeah -- newer TVs may have a coax -- but no analog signal support. Scary times!

[HunterZero]

I have an older LCD TV with coaxial antenna input and analogue RF tuner that works perfectly with the Intellivision RF signal, so they do exist - but the analogue TV signal has now been switched off in Australia (and probably is being switched off in many other countries), so nil chance of any new model TVs coming with an analogue tuner.

 

Modding the Intellivision for composite will definitely make it easier to hook up, even if the picture quality still isn't perfect.

 

The Intellivision's RF signal is very good, but for the convenience of composite output, it's worth modding if you don't have a TV with analogue tuner.

 

- J

[Quasar247]

Not sure if the Inty you have is UK/PAL or imported, but if you're from the UK (like me ), then RF for any US/NTSC import is only possible on a world standard & typically older TV/VCR with US tuner - most newer UK TVs left with RF only seem to have PAL analogue tuners (will show I on the analogue tuning menu) even though they are happy with NTSC colour signal & 60hz!

 

Either way, composite will likely show an improvement (clarity wise) over RF on a modern TV so I would go that way if at all possible & gives you more future proofing on connectivity (BTW mine was an import, already modded!)

[+freewheel]

although colecos may have bad rf they have the easiest composite mod that produces an absolutely beautiful picture quality. The thing i hate about the composite on the atari 2600 is you can never get correct colors for all games. Example the 2 different frogger games. Get ones color perfect the other looks like shit. Solution for me, an external pot knob to adjust color per game.

 

Quoted for truth. The coleco mod is absolutely amazing, and perfect colours. The mod I've been using on the 2600 has several pots, and I've always managed to tweak them to get it "pretty close". Fortunately my 6 switch has nice RF for those times that I'm desperate for bang-on colour.

 

I assume the Intellivision colour isn't bad with a mod; I've certainly never heard complaints.

[golbern]

Not sure if the Inty you have is UK/PAL or imported, but if you're from the UK (like me ), then RF for any US/NTSC import is only possible on a world standard & typically older TV/VCR with US tuner - most newer UK TVs left with RF only seem to have PAL analogue tuners (will show I on the analogue tuning menu) even though they are happy with NTSC colour signal & 60hz!

 

Either way, composite will likely show an improvement (clarity wise) over RF on a modern TV so I would go that way if at all possible & gives you more future proofing on connectivity (BTW mine was an import, already modded!)

Hi , My intellivision is a UK/PAL model.... Not sure if thats good news or not . Can't seem to find anybody in the UK that mods intellivisions. .

.and i don;t think i've got the balls to open mine up and try and do it myself !. the soldering part scares me ..lol

Quasar 247 .....Do you know anybody in UK that does mods ?????

 

If i can't find anybody....... i think i will go down the VCR route, even if the picture is inferior.